


By Word of Mouth

by NamelesslyNightlock



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mistletoe, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, serious liberties taken with Norse Mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 08:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: “It was just mistletoe,” Tony whined. “I thought he’d find it funny. How was I supposed to know he’d throw a fit over a couple of plants?”“Oh, Tony,” Bruce sighed, shaking his head in sympathy. “Haven’t you read the myths?”





	By Word of Mouth

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw [this prompt list](http://quietlyapocalyptic.tumblr.com/post/180514071039/12daysofsterek-captainasexual-fun-holiday-aus), and one of them just made me snicker when I imagined Tony saying it. So here we are.  
>   
> Also. If you've read my other stuff you probably know by now I like messing around with Norse Myths a bit. If you hold to those, well. Be warned, because I don't.  
> 

In the past, Tony had never really liked Christmas. It was the time of year when everyone who didn’t care came crawling out of the woodwork to try and gain favour, while those who did scurried away to spend time with their real families, leaving Tony alone. For once, though, Tony’s home was full of people he actually wanted to spend time with, and who wanted to spend time with him. The Avengers had their ups and downs but they were almost like a family, they had all decided to spend Christmas together in the Tower– and Tony had decided that it was going to be the best Christmas ever.

Plus, it was going to be Loki’s first Christmas, since he’d only begun his sentence down on Earth last May. He had started to come out of his shell a bit, and while he was still rather standoffish, Tony sincerely enjoyed their conversations and wanted Loki to have a good time.

Actually... While Tony had planned to make the holiday a memorable one for everybody, he’d thought– hey, why not hit two birds with one stone? He could introduce Loki to one of the better Christmas traditions through a medium he would appreciate (see: mass chaos) and make the move Tony had been wanting to make for months all in the one go.

It was inspired, it was genius—

And it was the worst fucking idea Tony’d had in a really long time, if the way Tony found Loki glaring up at a particularly obnoxious bunch of white flowers hanging from the ceiling of the elevator was any form of indication.

“Hey, Reindeer Games,” said Tony, slipping in beside him and hoping for the best.

But the only acknowledgment he received was a deepening of the crease between Loki’s brows, and then the god was stepping away from Tony– almost pressing against the side of the elevator, as if he were trying to get away.

“Lokes?” Tony asked cautiously. “You okay?”

Loki actually _growled_ , and then suddenly the mistletoe spontaneously combusted. _Honestly_. One moment it was fine and dandy, and then the next the flowers were on fire and there were bright green flames licking around the edges of the leaves, filling the elevator with the acrid stench of burning plant while leaving the surrounding surfaces untouched. By the time the elevator reached the common floor, there wasn’t a single trace of the mistletoe left.

Okay. So the plan wasn’t off to a _great_ start, then.

Now, at this point, Tony had already realised his error. With more time, he might have been able to instruct JARVIS to have the rest of it removed, to have it all cleaned up and sorted before Loki could see the extent of it. That way, he could have avoided everything that happened next.

Unfortunately, when one is inside an elevator with the person that shouldn’t know the plan and heading to the place that they really shouldn’t go, there’s not a whole lot that can be done other than hope and pray for the best outcome– which hopefully did not include any more pyrotechnics.

But that, of course, really was too much to hope for.

Loki didn’t just pause when he stepped out into the living room– he _stopped,_ his whole body going rigid as he took in the absolutely _galling_ sight before him.

Tony isn’t the sort of person who does things in half measures.

The ceiling was lined with the stuff like it was tinsel, garlands of it stretched between the many light fittings, criss-crossing over each other and forming a web that would be impossible to avoid.

Wincing internally, Tony decided that he might as well just go with it.

“Wow,” he said, stepping up beside Loki and glancing around with wide, innocent eyes. “Our landlord really went all out with the mistletoe, huh?”

Loki glared. “Stark,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “You _are_ the landlord. Why is that _infernal_ plant covering your tower?”

Maybe that should have been the moment to own up, to admit the truth. At this point, what did Tony have to lose?

Well.

A whole fucking lot, actually.

Loki wasn’t exactly an _open_ person, but Tony thought he’d read the signals right. The time they’d spent together, the casual touches, the lingering looks– he thought that maybe Loki liked him too.

It would seem that he was very, very wrong.

But even if Loki didn’t want something more than what they already had, even if Loki didn’t want to go any further than the occasional hug or cuddle on the couch, then that was okay. That Loki was willing to go to such lengths as burning the mistletoe with magic to avoid sharing even a kiss with Tony... well, it hurt, but it was still more than certainly _okay_.

Tony really had come to value Loki’s friendship, and while he ached for something more than that, he knew that nothing at all would be a torture too cruel to withstand. He’d much prefer to be friends than to lose Loki all together, and for that, he was more than willing to respect Loki’s wishes.

He was willing to be whatever Loki wanted him to be, if it meant that he got to keep Loki in his life.

So, he plucked up his courage, looked Loki in the eye, and offered something that was only half the truth.

“Because it’s Christmas?”

Unfortunately, Loki really did know him too well. “You’re lying.”

“Am not.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, and for a moment Tony thought he was going to push the issue. But instead, Loki merely turned his glare upon the ceiling, and it was the mistletoe that suffered his rage instead. The fire seemed hotter this time, angrier, and instead of burning the garlands away to nothing it filled the room with smoke and ash, leaving the ceiling singed black.

“You could have just vanished it,” Tony grumbled.

Despite the circumstance, he was still half expecting a quip back, or at least the smallest hint of a smirk – but instead, something harsh and pained intruded upon Loki’s expression, and as he turned away, Tony thought he might have seen Loki flinch.

“Loki, wait,” Tony tried, but it was no use. Once Loki had made his mind up about leaving – whether he was escaping a SHIELD helicarrier armed to the teeth or an uncomfortable conversation – there was never any chance of stopping him. There was a short flash of green and then Loki vanished, slipping through Tony’s fingers like he had never been there in the first place.

Tony was still standing there, hand half outstretched toward an empty space when Bruce called out from the kitchen, his footsteps heralding his arrival before he’d even turned the corner.

“Tony?” Bruce asked. “Something smells like it might be...” he trailed off as he saw the state of the room, his eyes widening as they landed upon the ashen remains of the mistletoe. “... burning. Tony, what’s wrong?”

“Bruce,” Tony groaned, turning to his friend with a broken expression. “I think I just made a terrible mistake.”

***

Bruce, to his credit, listened to Tony’s explanation without judgement. He didn’t tell Tony that he had been an idiot, or that he should have done this, or shouldn’t have done that. (At least, not at first.) He just sat, and he listened, and when Tony was finished he gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“Maybe it’s not you he has a problem with,” Bruce offered, doing his best to be supportive. “He hasn’t acted this way towards you in a while, after all.”

“Not for months,” Tony replied miserably. “I thought we were in a good place. I guess he just wants to be friends. If he even wants that, now.”

“Tony, you two are thick as thieves. Tell me, have you ever known Loki to be a person to suffer in silence?”

“Yes,” Tony replied. “That’s what he does. He doesn’t snap immediately, he just waits for the best moment to strike.”

Bruce seemed thrown for a moment, but recovered well. “Okay, but, if that’s the way he thinks, and if that’s what this is... then don’t you think it’s strange that in order to show you whatever it is he’s showing you he chose to burn mistletoe, of all things?”

Tony thought for a moment, but he had to admit that Bruce had a point. It wasn’t really like Loki at all. But if that was the case... “If it’s not me, then what else could he be mad about? Nothing else happened.”

“Did you ever stop and think it might just be the _mistletoe?_ ” Bruce raised his brows as if he expected Tony to understand what he was going on about.

Tony just blinked, and waited.

“He hasn’t been on Earth for long, and this is his first Christmas here,” Bruce explained patiently.

“So?”

“Tony,” Bruce groaned, wearing his special ‘how can you be a genius but still not understand what I’m saying’ look that he usually saved for situations just like this. “He probably doesn’t know what mistletoe means on Earth. And if that’s the case, then this is probably not what you think it is.”

Well, that was... rather mind blowing, actually.

What if Bruce was right? Maybe Loki _didn’t_ know that the mistletoe was meant to be a declaration these days, that waving it over someone else’s head was as much an invitation as actual words. Of course, there was also the fact that it was often used as a prank, but not when you did it to yourself.

Maybe Loki hadn’t understood what Tony was asking.

The thought blossomed immediately in Tony’s mind and heart, and he grasped onto the shred of hope with all the newfound determination of a resilient soul.

“So it’s _not_ me, then?” Tony asked, a smile making its way onto the curve of his lips. “He just really didn’t like the mistletoe?”

“Why _did_ you think that covering the Tower in the stuff was a good idea?”

“I wanted him to kiss me. I’d have thought that’s rather obvious, Brucie _._ ”

“And you didn’t even consider that he wouldn’t know what it meant?” Bruce asked with a touch of exasperation. “Why didn’t you just _talk_ to him?”

“It was just mistletoe,” Tony whined. “I thought he’d find it _funny_. How was I supposed to know he’d throw a fit over a couple of plants?”

“Oh, Tony,” Bruce sighed, shaking his head. “Haven’t you _read_ the Norse myths?”

Once, Tony might have laughed at such a question. This time, he merely shook his head. “I know enough that I know they aren’t all true,” he said, stubbornness still lacing his tone. “Clint made a few jokes a while back about horses, and Loki nearly throttled him. Thor said they’re all wrong, all stories that were told drunkenly over feasts, and that they have been lost in translation over a millennia of retellings. I didn’t think they were relevant.” He sighed and looked away, unable to hold Bruce’s sympathetic gaze. “I just... I’ve always just wanted to get to know _him_ , you know? I don’t want to know what other people say. The media is bad enough about him these days, why should I listen to what some old Vikings wrote a thousand years ago? I just want to spend time with the person he is now.”

“That’s sweet,” said Bruce. “But if you really feel that way, Tony, you can’t just leave this as it is. You should talk to him.”

Well, yes, that probably was the smart thing to do. However. He probably needed all the information first.

“Bruce,” Tony said. “I think I need you to tell me the myth about the mistletoe.”

Bruce looked mightily uncomfortable, his gaze flickering as he chewed on his bottom lip. “I thought you said you didn’t want to know,” he said warily.

“It’s not that,” Tony countered. “I told you, I get that it’s probably not true. I just want to know what I’m walking in to, what Loki probably thinks that I’ve heard. Please, Bruce.”

Either Tony’s pout was still as effective as he liked to believe it was or there was something truly pathetic in his begging. Whichever it was, Tony was grateful for it when Bruce gave a sigh and began to recount the tale of how a dude called Baldur died.

As Bruce told him the story, Tony only grew all the more certain that it wasn’t true. Even with Loki’s past, it was hard to believe that Loki, the same person who played fetch with DUM-E and complained about Steve’s organisation system for the kitchen, Tony’s best friend _Loki_ , could kill someone like that in cold blood. Oh, Tony knew that Loki had killed before of course, but generally he only did so when he had a _reason,_ not just to prove that he could _._ And– no, it was less than that even, because the story said Loki did it only to prove everyone else wrong.

Even from what Thor had said of Loki’s childhood, everything Tony knew from Loki himself didn’t fit with that story of Loki convincing some blind dude to throw a mistletoe spear at, well, at the person that the myth claimed was Thor’s brother. There couldn't have been any way that Loki had something to gain from that. The story itself didn’t make any sense, and Tony was certain it was just another legend that had been so twisted by time that it had ceased to hold any resemblance to the truth.

But if Loki knew of the myth’s existence – and that was likely, since he’d obviously heard of the one about the horse – then maybe he thought Tony knew about it too.

God, what if Loki thought that Tony had heard about the myth and had put the mistletoe up to taunt him?

“So what you’re saying is that best case scenario, he thinks I’m making a joke out of how he got a guy killed. Worst case, he thinks I’m preparing weapons to kill him.” Tony groaned, and buried his head in his hands. “This is so fucked up.”

Bruce didn’t try to deny it. Instead, he offered Tony a weak smile and awkwardly said, “If it makes you feel any better, I think he knows that your first choice of weapon wouldn’t be a bunch of mistletoe.”

“Yeah, no, it doesn’t, really,” Tony muttered. Then he glanced back up, and sighed. “Okay. Either way, you were right. I should to talk to him.”

“Yes,” Bruce said immediately, sounding far too relieved. “Definitely. Go talk to him. I’ll, um.” He glanced around at the singed living room, and the motes of ash that still floated through the air. “I’ll get the vacuum out, shall I?”

***

When JARVIS told Tony that Loki was in the training room, he sighed with near crippling relief. He’d been half worried that Loki had left, escaping Christmas and mistletoe entirely by going off-world.

The relief quickly morphed into concern, however, when he found Loki in full armour save the helmet. He wasn’t using magic but he had daggers in his hands, fighting the holographic targets Tony had created for practice. The dark green cloak was billowing behind him as he spinned and sliced, carving through the holograms in a vicious dance that Tony knew from experience would eviscerate everyone in his path.

Tony waited, just watching as Loki let off steam. When all the targets were destroyed, JARVIS stopped the program and the god was left standing in the middle of the room, breathing heavily, his hands clutching his daggers so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

Well, it was as good a moment as any.

Scuffing his feet so as not to startle, Tony stepped further into the room, nervous but determined. Loki turned in confusion and then seemed to physically deflate as his gaze landed on Tony, his shoulders slumping even as he made his way across the room toward where Tony was standing.

“Stark,” he said, his amour shimmering away to the same green cotton shirt and black jeans he had been wearing earlier in the elevator. He looked like he was approaching a college professor with a failing grade as he paused in front of Tony, his expression a mixture of acceptance and dread. “What do you want?”

Tony frowned, caught off guard by his demeanour. Loki had been angry before, Tony was sure he had not been imagining that, and Loki wasn’t usually one to let go of anger with ease. Maybe the training session had been more effective at blowing off steam than Tony realised.

Tony thought he almost might have preferred it if Loki was angry. It would have made more sense than this... sadness.

“Hey, Snowflake,” Tony said, offering a wary smile. “I wanted to apologise for earlier.” When Loki frowned, Tony elaborated. “The mistletoe. I get that it might have been in bad taste.”

Loki nodded stiffly. “It’s more than just that,” he said, the words forced from between clenched teeth.

“Yeah,” Tony sighed. “Bruce told me a story, and I... well. I don’t want you to think that I meant something more with the mistletoe than I actually did.”

Rather than the harsh agreement Tony was expecting, he was instead met with confusion. “What are you referring to?” Loki asked. “Which story?”

“You know,” Tony shrugged. “The one with the mistletoe.”

It took him a moment. “Baldur?” Loki gave Tony a look that suggested he thought he had lost his mind. “He isn’t dead. That story is a little exaggerated.”

Well, that was something of a relief, even if it had been what Tony was expecting. “Care to elaborate?”

“You know that on Asgard, I was ridiculed for my use of magic in battle,” Loki started, and Tony nodded because he _did_ know, and it still shot lances of disgust through him. But it was not the moment to rehash old injuries. “Well, some of Thor’s friends wagered that I couldn’t win a fight if I didn’t have my seiðr to gain the upper hand, and Baldur, one of the favoured trainees in the Einherjar, offered to test the theory. I told them that I could beat Baldur even if they banned me from all the weapons in Asgard. They thought up a fairly long list.” Loki actually smiled then, but it was a bitter thing that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “The list was not long enough. I threw a mistletoe branch at his head and knocked him out in the first few seconds.” Loki shrugged. “Thor found it all rather amusing, and liked to embellish the story. I believe the mortals first heard the tale from him.”

“I thought it would be something like that,” Tony sighed. “But you have to know that I didn’t know about that before. I didn’t read the stories.”

Loki smiled again, sharp and hard and full of something painful. “You seem to be the only one who hasn’t,” he said. “I have always appreciated that. I know Thor does, as well.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” Tony snapped. “I just want to know you for who you are now, when you’re with me. I don’t care about the opinions of anyone else.”

“I know,” Loki sighed. “That mistletoe...” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “I did not think that it was put there as a reference to that particular myth, but it was certainly taunting me.”

“How?”

Loki glanced away, tense once again, and Tony sighed.

“Loki,” he said slowly. “You know I’m the one who put it up. Yeah, sure, I thought it would be funny to watch the team jump around and try to avoid it– I thought you’d find that funny, too. But that wasn’t my only reason. I put it there because _I_ wanted to get caught under it. I jumped into that elevator _on purpose_.”

Loki frowned. “But that means that you—“

“Want to kiss you, yes,” Tony interrupted, losing patience. “Fabulous deduction, Sherlock.”

For possibly the first time ever, Tony got to see Loki in a total state of shock.

“Oh,” Loki said, his eyes widening impossibly further.

“Yeah, oh,” Tony echoed, sticking with the momentum and harnessing it in order to muster up the necessary courage to take a step closer. It meant that he had to look up a little to keep eye contact, but it was worth it for the added sense of intimacy. “I’ve wanted something more with you for a long time, now. I just... didn’t know how to say it.”

It wasn’t a perfect confession, Tony knew, but in that moment it was all he had. He worried that it wouldn’t be enough, because Loki’s gaze was distant. But after a moment he began to speak, and Tony realised that Loki had only been thinking of his own reply. After all, this sort of thing shouldn’t be rushed.

“When you came into the elevator, I was worried that you would expect to follow the Midgardian tradition. That you would want me to kiss you,” Loki said haltingly. “And I was afraid, because...”

“Because you didn’t want to,” Tony finished, already preparing himself to be let down. “That’s okay, Loki, really, I get it—“

“No,” Loki snapped harshly. “I was afraid because I was sure that it wouldn’t mean anything to you, but it would mean a lot to me. And I knew that would hurt, so I simply chose to avoid it.”

Trying to ignore the heavy beating in his chest, Tony swallowed and said, “Wait a second, back up. So all this means I was right the first time. You _did_ know what mistletoe means on Earth!”

“I am not unfamiliar with the internet, Stark,” Loki said, managing to roll his eyes despite his obvious lingering discomfort. “I _have_ Googled your Christmas rituals. I wished to prepare myself for the famed catastrophe of human festivities.”

Tony grinned with the familiarity of their usual dynamic, using the banter to find a solid foothold. “Catastrophe?” he asked, putting on a show of being affronted. “I don’t know what Viking celebrations were like, but I bet we’ve become more civilised since then.”

Loki’s answering smirk was far too sharp to be in agreement, and Tony huffed, _properly_ affronted, now.

“At least we still don’t think that storms are caused by Thor _making_ things,” Tony muttered.

“No,” Loki answered, his smile softer, now. “Yet you allow a plant to dictate who you will share a kiss with.”

“Mistletoe isn’t typically an accident,” Tony replied, his voice low. “It’s put there on purpose– sometimes as a joke, to get friends to kiss people for fun.”

“Sometimes?” Loki asked, and Tony jolted as he felt Loki’s cool fingers brush against his own. Loki smiled at that, softer than his usual smirks, more honest than his cocky grins. He was so close now, Tony could make out the flecks of gold in his green eyes.

“Sometimes,” Tony continued, “people put it up for themselves, so they can have a chance to kiss someone they’ve been too nervous to ask with words.” He reached up, and ran the tips of his fingers along Loki’s jaw in a soft caress. “Someone special.”

Never once looking away from Tony, Loki twisted his fingers through the air, pulling a stem laced with dark green leaves and small white flowers from absolutely nothing at all. Tony watched, captivated as the small sprig of mistletoe rose up until it was hanging between them, held aloft by nothing more than Loki’s force of will.

“Like that?” Loki asked softly, his expression open and hopeful.

“Yeah,” Tony breathed, totally enraptured. “Just like that.”

The distance between them fell away slowly but purposefully, and Tony’s eyes slipped shut as he met Loki’s lips in a sweet kiss. And as Loki’s hands clutched at Tony’s hips, drawing them closer together and further into the absolute bliss of a long awaited connection, Tony couldn’t help but think that maybe his plan did have some merit, after all.


End file.
